to come a buster
Preserved but no longer current.
Meaning · English
To come a cropper; to meet with a serious set-back or fall. In Australia a Southerly Buster is a heavy gale from the south, striking the east coast of Australia and New Zealand.
Era: ca. 1898 (Victorian)
Sources & notes
Reproduced from Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898 edition, public domain; archive.org, retrieved 2026-07-31; OCR text, minor errors possible). Reflects the scholarship and attitudes of its era.
Common questions
What does “to come a buster” mean?
To come a cropper; to meet with a serious set-back or fall. In Australia a Southerly Buster is a heavy gale from the south, striking the east coast of Australia and New Zealand.
Is “to come a buster” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.